


Red and Wolves

by SCL



Series: Red and Wolves [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Little Red Riding Hood AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-21 00:33:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11932623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SCL/pseuds/SCL
Summary: Little Red Riding Hood AU for TFC. Original art idea by tumblr artist @requiemofkings. Original characters from Nora Sakavic.





	1. The First Sighting

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a short first intro chapter, to the rest of the story. Hope you enjoy :)

Neil Josten let his fire burn down to the embers without a thought. He didn’t want the heat, he wanted the acrid smell of smoke that reminded him of his mother. If he inhaled slowly enough, he could almost taste the ghost of a funeral pyre. It was at once revolting and comforting, and it sent a sick shudder down his spine.   
He glanced up at the sky , but the stars were hidden behind the thick branches of oak trees. He wondered, not for the first time, if his mother was looking down at him. He hoped not. She’d beat him to hell and back if she saw him sitting around moping like this.   
Footsteps sounded behind him, startling him from his thoughts. Neil pulled his pack closer to his side and looked back. Hernandez stood came around one side of a tree and stood next to Neil.   
“I didn’t see your parents at the market,” Hernandez said  
“They caravan must not be in town yet.” Neil said.  
“Still?”  
Yes. But Neil couldn’t say why. He knew that both the citizens of the town and the people in the gypsy camp were tired of the same excuse anytime they asked after his parents, but it was as easy a lie as it was overused. It explained why no one would ever see the Jostens around the market and why Neil had a predilection for sleeping near the gypsy camp.  
It wasn’t that he didn’t have a better place to sleep. It was more that his living situation wasn’t legal. Millport was a quiet settlement, which meant there where dozens of rooms in the inns that would never be occupied. He’d appropriated one this summer at the sleepy end of town, populated mostly by small merchant homes. The merchants were rarely in the comfort of their own homes, but every time he came and went, he risked being spotted. If people realized he was squatting, they’d start asking difficult questions. It was usually easier to set up camp near the gypsies, and sleep there. Why Hernandez let him get away with it, he didn’t know. He thought it best not to ask.  
Hernandez held out his hand, and Neil passed him one of the logs sitting near his feat. Hernandez brought the fire back to life, coaxing it until there was a roaring flame. He turned to face Neil.  
“I thought tonight would be the night.” He said.  
“No one can really know when.” Neil said, looking into the flames.  
Millport’s market that day had been the last, due to the heavy frost that had flown over the field the previous evening. Already many wagons had rolled out of town, seeking a safer place to spend the winter.   
“I may leave a message here with where I’ll spend the winter.” He said, because Hernandez was still watching him. “They may not miss me by much.”  
“That’s true.” Said Henandez, rising to leave. “Be careful tonight, watchman said he saw a wolf roaming around the edge of the fields a few days back.”  
With that, Hernandez took his leave. Neil pulled his bedroll from the pack and settled down for the night. In a few days, he would leave, but he sure wouldn’t be leaving a note for his parents. Having lived on the run almost his entire life, the idea of leaving a clue of his whereabouts for anyone was straight out of a nightmare.  
Just as Neil was about to settle in to a troubled sleep, her heard a faint growling noise. Not the faint grumble of hunger that he had grown accustom to, but an actual growl. A growl from something threatened. Neil shot up from his bedroll and went straight for the dagger that he kept at the bottom of his back. But before he could get to it, he was bowled over by something large and furry. The next thing he saw was a line of razor sharp teeth dripping with saliva. A strangled breath passed Neil’s lips as he struggles to come to terms with his sudden and imminent death.  
But, a moment passed, and then another, and the animal remind still. When It became clear that Neil would not, in fact, be devoured in the coming minutes, he braved a look at the rest of his attacker. He knew immediately that it was a wolf. A large male with golden eyes and ruddy yet handsome fur. Its expression, surprisingly, managed to convey a look of boredom that was very nearly human. It gaze drifted down to meet Neil’s in a lazy way that clearly said the animal would not be moving anytime soon.  
Eventually Neil’s curiosity won out, and he attempted to shift under the weight of the strange animal. The sudden movement set the wolf to growling again, and Neil froze. His heartbeat was thudding so loudly in his ears he could hardly hear a thing. Slowly but surely the wolf relaxed again, though it remained as an unyielding weight on Neil’s chest. He needed to think. What could he do that would persuade the wolf to move. Neil’s thoughts wandered to his knife resting safely at the bottom of his pack. But that wouldn’t do, even if he could somehow get to the knife without drawing attention to it, Neil wasn’t sure he was ready to face a full grown male wolf.  
What else did Neil have in his bag? Not much. His mother had always emphasized traveling light, and Neil had yet to break that rule. He shuffled mentally through the meager contents in his head The options were not good. Neil decided that maybe his best option was to go for the knife after all. He didn’t know if he would have much time to think before he became a meal.   
Ever so slowly Neil began to inch his hand toward the pack, rest above his head. The Wolf noticed immediately, and its hackles drew back, but it did not strike, merely watched. Neil’s hand continued to inch backwards until his fingers brushed against the tie that bound the pack closed. Now he could feel his panicked heart beat even in his fingertips. Briefly he fumbled with the latch until it slipped loose. The contents of the pack slumped out without warning, cascading into Neil’s hands. He couldn’t tell in that moment what he was holding, but it seemed to have drawn the Wolf’s attention.  
For one moment, Neil half wondered if maybe by chance the knife, which remained at the bottom of his pack always, had managed to slide free. And then by some miracle, the wolf rose from Neil’s chest to inspect the contents in his hand. He could feel breath, hot and damp, tickling his palm. Then a wet nose nudging along Neil’s wrist. What had fallen of Neil’s pack that could possibly of interest to a wild animal?  
Neil rose cautiously to inspect the scene before him, and was surprised by what he saw. Rather than going for the jerky that was stored in the pack, the wolf had found the sweat bread that had been given to Neil by a sympathetic housewife the day before. The wolf was eagerly sniffing around the parcel, clearly looking for a way to unwrap it. Part of Neil was happy to share the bread, as he had no taste in sweets, the other part was simply confused at the wolf’s strange taste.  
Curios to see what happened, Neil slowly began to inch forward. His mother would be furious to see him doing something so risky, but he resisted it. Something was different about this wolf, and Neil knew it. The wolf was also curios as to why Neil was coming back into it’s personal space, but again allowed the intrusion. Neil quickly unwrapped the parcel and hurried away from the wolf, leaving it the devour the bread. It was a strange sight that Neil would not soon forget.  
Stranger still were the voices that Neil heard, calling from the woods.  
“Andrew!” it said, softly at first.  
“Andrew!” louder this time.  
The wolf became still except the twitching of its ears.   
“Andrew!” called the voice, practically on top of them this time.  
This time the wolf did not hesitate. It looked at Neil in a way that clearly said good bye, and then it lept into the underbrush. Neil sat, shocked for a moment before chasing after him. It became soon became clear, however, that it was too dark to be searching for possibly domesticated wild animals, and Neil gave up his search. He returned to his camp, mind reeling and lay himself down on his bed roll. Looking up at the stars. Neil wondered if he would ever fall asleep.


	2. Re-encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Red Riding Hood AU for TFC. Original art idea by tumblr artist @requiemofkings. Original characters from Nora Sakavic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A second short chapter with Neil and Andrew :) More to come!

Neil spent the next few days thinking about the wolf. He didn’t dare go back to his camp site for fear that the wolf too would return, but he did ask his few neighbors if they had seen anything. Most seemed puzzled by his proposition, and simply decided to move father from that portion of the forest for their own safety.  
It wasn’t the fear for his safety that kept Neil away, however, but the possibility of it all. Neil had heard many stories of enchanted animals roaming the forest. They had the mind of their former human selves, and the body of an animal. Most people that were like that were usually involved in some strange curse or bargain with an angry witch. That was last thing that Neil needed to get mixed up in.  
And yet he felt pulled to it. Neil wanted to be safe, but he also curios about the wolf. He could feel his resolve to stay away slowly slipping, no longer being bolstered by the immovable force that was his mother. Finally, the night before Neil had planned on leaving Millport, he went back armed with his knife and another package of sweet rolls.  
It was only dusk when Neil arrived, so he sat down against the base of a tree and settled down to wait. He built only a small fire, hoping that he would not have to stay all night and be needing much company. The best case scenario for this was that the wolf didn’t show up at all, leaving Neil with no clues for its whereabouts and forcing him to move on. This was, however, also the worst case scenario, because then Neil’s curiosity would never be satisfied, and who knew how long it would be before He could stop thinking about this strange incident every waking second of his life.  
As it turned out, Neil was not curious enough to stay awake the whole night, and he drifted off, much to his own dismay. When he woke, it was not because of the sun.  
The wolf sat across from him, eyes glowing from the dim embers of the long forgotten fire. Neil shot up from his spot on the ground and began fumbling for his knife, panic rushing through his veins. By the time he finally had a familiar grip on the handle, he realized he must not be in immediate danger. The wolf had not moved from its spot, but had fixed Neil with a bored gaze instead. Neil slowly lowered his knife.  
“So, you came back, huh?” said the Wolf, causing Neil’s mouth to drop open in shock.  
He had been right. The wolf was enchanted. In the dim light of the fire, Neil could hardly see the wolf at all, but there was something about it – no- him that was eerily human. Only some cursed animal would ever behave like that. Neil would have smile at how clever he had been if he wasn’t busy being shocked at the fact that he was right.  
The Wolf of course, was not impressed with Neil. He sat up on his hind legs and gave Neil an even more sullen look than the previous one.  
“It’s rude to stare.” He drawled, looking like he really didn’t care whether Neil stared or not.  
“It’s rude to watch people sleep.” Neil shot back. The wolf’s ears twitched in annoyance. It was, out of all the wolf’s responses, the most eerily human like. Neil simply couldn’t believe he was having a conversation with an animal right now.  
There was a moment of silence, as man and wolf considered each other. Neil wasn’t sure if his curiosity would be sated now that he knew that he was right, but he also wasn’t sure how hard his mother’s rules would kick him in return if he let this happen. That was just how Neil’s life had always been, and Neil figured that was how it always would be.  
“I brought you something.” Neil muttered, holding out the sweet bread. He could tell the wolf wanted it, and knew the scent of it was what had brought him all the way out of the shadow. He slowly came up to Neil’s hand and sniffed the bread, though they both knew what it was. Neil watched in fascination as the wolf carefully pulled the loaf from his hands. Then the wolf retreated a short distance to devour it with the same speed as the previous night. Neil wondered absently if the wolf had eaten recently, or if his diet consisted of handouts and stolen goods. While the wolf ate, a heavy silence fell over them, not awkward, but noticeable.  
Neil broke the silence first, probably figuring that he didn’t want his return to be a waste of time.  
“Who exactly are you supposed to be?”  
“I could ask you the same thing.” The wolf replied.  
“Just a traveler looking for his company,” Neil said, giving an automatic response, “  
The wolf looked at him down the end of his nose. He clearly didn’t believe the lie Neil had given him. Neil wasn’t going to expect a truthful answer in return.  
“My name is Andrew.”  
That wasn’t the kind of answer Neil was hoping for, but it did confirm something to him. There really were voices that night, calling out to the wolf. Neil wondered if there were more wolves like Andrew, or something else. Maybe a little truth could prompt Andrew to share more about himself. Neil had already come this far so he might as well prod around before he got himself killed.  
“My name is Neil. Neil Josten. I’ve been camping waiting here this summer.”  
“Neil Josten.” Andrew said, as if testing it out, “Here for the summer.”  
“Yes.”  
“And you did come back here. Strange of you.”  
“Well it was just too hard not to.”  
Feeling now was as good as ever for Neil to ask some clarifying questions, he simply hoped he wouldn’t offend Andrew enough to ask. The quicker Andrew shut Neil’s questions down, the quicker Neil would feel compelled to leave.  
“What…exactly…are you?” was what Neil finally settled on.  
Andrew rose, and slunk towards Neil. He came close enough to flutter the coper bangs on Neil’s forehead, but no farther. His hackles were raised slightly, giving Neil and a glimpse of rows of white, needle sharp teeth. The warning was clear. Questions were not Andrews style. He was giving a warning and if Neil got hurt after, it was his own fault.  
Finally, Andrew backed down, and turned to go. He looked back only once, and though he had never stopped staring at Neil, but now his stare was less interested. He clearly intended to leave. And Neil was going to let him. He had had his fun, and let his interest get the better of him, but now it was time to hide.  
Andrew gave one parting word to Neil.  
“Do you believe in fate?”  
Neil heard the faint scorn in the wolf’s voice. “No. Do you?”  
“Luck then,” Andrew said, ignoring that return question.  
“Only the bad sort.”  
“I’m flattered by your high opinion of me.”  
“Who said I was talking about you?” Neil countered.  
“It was implied” Andrew growled. He seemed only to be slightly angered by the statement of Neil saying he was innocent. Neil edged away and tried to defuse the subtle tension.  
“I’m too nice for that.”  
Andrew saw what Neil was trying to do.  
“Don’t be so afraid to die.”  
Anndrew began again to take his leave, for real this time. As he prepared to take a leap into the underbrush from the same direction, he gave Neil a final cursory glance. Neil couldn’t really read an expression like that.  
And then he was alone again, the same as before, wondering what had just happened to him.


	3. Long Walks and Day dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil is maybe a little gay, and Andrew steals coins and years from my life span because he is extra.  
> Characters belong to Nora, AU belongs to @requiemofkings (or Neyu). Visit my tumblr for more updates and sneak peaks @http://s-c-larkless.tumblr.com/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the chapters are progressively getting longer as I go. But maybe not. I don't know. Please enjoy this work and leave a comment telling me how bad it is.

Neil knew he had to leave Millport. Just walking around the town he knew he had overstayed his welcome. To many people knew his face now, waving to him in the street. That familiarity could get him killed. So he had packed his bags and started down the main road.  
A flip through the bible Neil carried with him, and he found the page he needed. A few highlighted word scattered across the page were not suspicious, but to Neil, they held the code that allowed him to know exactly which towns and cities held his mother’s hidden treasures. There was a town not too far down the road where Neil knew held one of his mother’s stashes. He would pick it up quickly, and then make his way through the lesser traveled parts of the country to his next squatting place.  
It was a solid plan and Neil knew his mother would grudgingly agree with it. Maybe that was why later that evening Neil didn’t end up following through with it.  
His morning began without any signs of deviance. Neil checked through the meager possessions of his pack, taking care to place the bible inconspicuously at the top. His cloak, tattered and travel worn, stayed in the bag, as the days were not yet cold enough to warrant wearing out the cloak more. Neil’s bedroll remained safely wedged at the bottom of the bag, along with a change of clothes, some coin and meager food supply. Finally, Neil strapped his knife safely to his hip before setting out.  
He took back roads to make sure no village person saw him leaving. The last thing he needed were fingers pointing with surety toward the road exiting the town. It was better that the townsfolk thought Neil was around for a few days longer, in order to throw other off his tracks. There was of course, no one to really miss Neil, or who had kept tabs on him, but he took these precautions none-the-less.  
Neil’s exit was quiet, as he hoped, and soon he was on his way out of town. He was used to this kind of lie that he was living. Stay and live quietly, and then leave without a moment’s notice. The road was more Neil’s home than any shack or cottage he had ever stayed in. Neil had his mother to thank for that kind of thinking, but he couldn’t complain, because it kept him alive.  
Until now. Neil was still beating himself up for that confrontation with Andrew the day before. He had known it was bad idea from the start, but he couldn’t keep himself away from the excitement of it all. Neil had always struggled with that. His mother had always been constantly pulling him away from dangerous situations that would have gotten them in a lot of trouble.  
But that didn’t mean Neil didn’t stop thinking about Andrew. The wolf was running through his thoughts constantly without reason. Neil wondered how he had gotten cursed, and what Andrew had looked like when he was human. He wished there was some way to forget about it, but he knew there wasn’t. So Neil pushed on, mind day dreaming about Andrew and the woods.  
With most curses that Neil had heard about, it was usually brought about by a vengeful witch or wizard to punish someone. Usually the punishment was for a crime of lesser offenses, but others were for more serious or personal crimes. The punishments themselves were usually generic, the typical curse that made your crops die, or made your wife infertile. Neil had come across a man in Millport who was cursed with an infestation of frogs every spring. They were dull things, that fulfilled their purpose.  
Then there were more creative curses. Things like the curse that so clearly plagued Andrew. Neil wasn’t sure what the details of Andrews curse was, but it was clearly the work of a more creative witch or wizard. Curses that involved animal transformation, or deformation were usually able to be broken if certain impossible requirements were fulfilled. This type of curse Neil found particularly cruel, because the requirements to break the curse would eventually possess the cursed person heart and soul as they tried to retrieve their old lives.  
Neil speculated that Andrews curse was somewhat like that. Andrew seemed like the type of person to provoke an angry wizard and bring wrath upon himself. Then the curse would dictate that Andrew would have to find some magical item or kiss a princess, or something else equally ridiculous, in order to return to his human form. Neil sincerely hoped that Andrew did not have to kiss a princess, wolf form or otherwise. It was all a very twisting puzzle, however, and Neil had few details to really figure it out.  
The funny thing was, Neil had a sense that Andrew didn’t care much about his wolf form. He seemed comfortable in it. No, that wasn’t quite it. Andrew seemed like the kind of person that would be anything but comfortable taking a curse like that lying down. He was resigned. Neil wondered exactly what kind of life Andrew had lead that would allow him to feel so defeated.  
There was one good thing that came from Neil daydreaming about Andrew, and it was that it helped pass the time. It was suddenly almost nightfall by the time that Neil had reached the neighboring town, and found a hostel to stay in for the night. It was a shared room, with about 20 dirty straw cots on an even dirtier stone floor. Neil chose the one closest to the door and the wall, so he could sleep watching the room. He knew that in the dark of the night he would not be able to sleep much with so many people moving and breathing. Still he lay down, deadly still, with his pack tucked anxiously up to his chest. In the morning Neil planned to retrieve his mother’s stash, and buy supplies for the long journey.  
As Neil was beginning to drift off, he happened to tune in to the conversation of two men next to him. At first he had little interest in gleaning information, but one of the men said a word that triggered him so deeply he had trouble not bolting up and running.  
“…and since this year is going to be so cold I just decided to bulk up extra.”  
“Yeah is suppose since that traveling woodsman showed up, it make since to pay for some extra now.”  
“Yes I’m glad you think so. Ever since that frost…”  
Neil felt his freeze in panic. There was no way. It was not possible that his father had found him so quickly before wood chopping season began. Neil tried to listen in to the men again, but hey had move on to other topics, leaving Neil wonder if it was possible that his father was here in this town at this very moment. Neil knew that if there was even a chance his father was here, then he would very much be dead within a matter of days.  
It took him only a split second decision to leave the hostel, and a second longer to gather his things. Neil didn’t want to look like he was leaving so quickly, so asked one of the men if there was a pub nearby, and got directions. Then, as soon as he left the hostel, Neil turned immediately in the other direction.  
His heart was beating so hard he could hardly hear anything. It took all of Neil’s restraint to remain inconspicuous, as he walked back toward the main road. He tried not to think about what would happen to him if he ran into his father. Every scar that Neil had received from his father burned with the memory of him. Neil felt sick, but he forced himself to keep walking.  
Which was, as it turned out, an unwise decision. If Neil had been thinking with a clear mind when he left the hostel, he would have known that the main road was the only place a peddler’s caravan like his fathers would realistically fit. He also would have noticed that a flow of people had started toward a specific direction, and their destination was a large crowd down the road. But Neil had been scared out of his wits and determined to escape, and that was a very different state of mind.  
Two wagons -one filled with wood, and the other no doubt filled with men- blocked the road. Neil recognized the insignia of his father’s wood trade immediately. Just the sight of it sent waves of convulsion through his gut. The men who sat in the wagon were searching the crowd, no doubt having been tasked with finding a certain copper-haired young man. Neil did a drunken halfway turn and stumbled into the nearest alleyway, panting and shaking. He hoped no one had spotted. Neil found a cluster of barrels and stood behind it leaning against one of the stucco walls to try and steady himself.  
It was then that Neil realized his second mistake, which was trapping himself in a dead end. The two building met about 20 feet in front of him with some kind of joint wall. The men were only searching the crowd now, but pretty soon they would begin to explore the city, and once they did, they would surely come across Neil, hiding like a guilty child in the alley. The panic Neil felt before increased exponentially, as he realized just how trapped he was.  
The problem with Neil’s Father, was that he could mess with you without even needing to be there. Nathaniel Wesninski had created a reputation of fear and terror with those who were involved with the more distasteful side of his business. That terror could reach you anywhere with just a word or a whisper. And now it had reached Neil. Neil, who more than anyone had suffered at his father’s hand. Neil, who knew exactly what happened when you disobeyed The Woodsman.  
There was nothing at that moment that Neil could do other than curl up behind the barrels and try to talk himself down from one of his panic attacks. His mother had always been there to pull Neil back to the present and drag him to safety. But now she was gone. She was gone and she couldn’t come back. A fresh wave of guilt and pain washed over Neil as he struggled to push away his grief for his late mother.  
Neil’s self-destructive thoughts were pushed away not a moment later, though, as he heard shouting from the road behind him. Had the men seen his inebriated attempt at retreat and decided to give chase? Or was something else occupying their attention? Neil risked peeking out from one side of the barrel. What he saw should have surprised him, but at that moment, it was like Neil was expecting it.  
There was a wolf, with a handsome golden brown coat that made Neil’s heart leap in his chest. It was Andrew, it had to be. No other wolf would be playing keep away with one of the men’s bag of coins. Andrew’s eye glinted with vicious pleasure as he dodged one way, and then another, causing people to fall to the ground left and right in their attempt to catch him. Neil was at first, too stunned to move. He quickly realized that Andrew was not, could not simply be here to fool with the guards of his father’s caravan by chance. It was too far from where Andrew had been to be by chance. Which meant he must have followed Neil and was now creating a diversion.  
Neil didn’t know what to think of Andrews strange behaviour, but he was grateful for the help. He moved himself out from behind the barrels, being careful to stay in the shadows, and surveyed the scene. Andrew was strategically moving himself so that the men were being tuned and drawn away without knowing that they were turning their backs to the wagons. It took only a few moments more before the men were fully diverted, giving Neil the perfect opportunity to escape. He slipped quietly under the wagon carrying the wood, and then he was past the barricade.  
Looking to the other side, Neil caught Andrews eye for one brief second. They shared a strange and knowing glance, and then Neil was off, sprinting down the road as fast as his legs would carry him. He didn’t dare look back, not even for a second to see if Andrew had followed behind him.  
It was a long time before Neil stopped running, and even then, he kept walking. His legs were numb and burning from the sprint, but Neil had always been a fast runner, even for his small size. Really though, Neil was just too glad to be away from his father’s men. Thinking back, it was clear that the men were not specifically looking for Neil. They must have been here to sell wood, now that winter was getting close, which meant Neil’s father would be deep in the woods to the south, chopping down trees with his closer lieutenants. It must now be their habit to search any town they went to for Neil, just on the chance that they caught him off guard. Which they almost had, were it not for Andrew.  
Andrew. Neil hoped he was alright. It was a strange feeling, to care about what happened to Andrew. Honestly caring had been one of the few things that Neil didn’t pick up on during his life on the run. And yet, here he was, wondering if Andrew had made it out of there safely. He was surely clever enough not to get himself killed, not unless his circumstances suddenly went from bad to worse. Neil quietly wondered if Andrew would come find him again, or if he had decided Neil should be left alone. Andrew’s logic for following Neil was not clear, and so Neil was left to guess the strange Wolf’s motives, but trusting that they were not filled with malintent.  
Eventually even Neils legs began to get tired, and he was forced to find a place to rest for the evening. Neil was loathe to stop when he was still close to his father’s men, but he knew he needed to rest. He found a large oak tree with gnarled roots to make a sort of nest with his bedroll. Neil had slept on rocks before, so he wasn’t one to complain about sleeping on the ground. It took him a while to drift off, but that was expected, given the day that Neil had had. He closed his eyes, and let himself dream about wolves, and curses and dark alleyways.  
Neil was roused, near dawn, by the crunch of paws on leaves. In his sleepy haze, he wasn’t surprised to see Andrew at all, even though he could have sworn that Andrew was suddenly very much a human at that point. He was only glad to see that he was safe and meant to murmur a few words of thanks, but he was too tired to manage even that, and quickly drifted back to sleep.  
When Neil woke the second time, he was pleased to see that Andrew, in Wolf form, was dozing quietly a few feet away from him. The moment Neil sat up, Andrew’s eyes drifted open lazily and gave him a sleepy look. Neil must have dreamt that Andrew was human, as he was so clearly a wolf right then.  
“You decided to come back.” Neil said, smiling to himself.  
“Only because I had a feeling you were going to be stupid to leave alone for long.” said Andrew in a bored tone.  
“And you followed me before for similar reasons?”  
This was met with silence, and it seemed that Andrew had decided to stop the conversation before Neil got into any big questions. Nei wasn’t bothered by this silence so much as he was by his slow realization of how strange it was that Andrew had saved him. Neil could find no reason for Andrew to do any of the things that he had done, for bad reasons or otherwise. There was no possible way that in the small time Andrew had spent with Neil that he could have figured out who Neil really was. Because of the situation that Andrew had rescued Neil from, it was possible he may have found a clue. But if he could guess who Neil was, then it made no sense for him to rescue Neil.  
Just Looking at Andrew invited a world speculations. He seemed to have no motives for anything other than trivial sweets. He had a sense of natural wolfishness that showed in a well placed growl, yet he also prefered to show off his human side. Neil was beginning to find that thinking about Andrew was not a very wise idea, in and of itself.  
Neil set about breaking his camp, slowly, allowing Andrew time to comment on his travel plans. Naïvely, Neil hoped that Andrew might come with him for a ways, and give Neil a chance to crack the mystery before him. Andrew, however, made no move to stop or aid Neil, only watched him, staying stock still except for the occasional twitch of his ears. Too soon Neil was packed and ready to go, and he stood looking down at Andrew.  
“Well…” Neil began awkwardly. Andrew gazed up at him stonily.  
“I’ll be going now,” Neil tried again “so thank you for your help.”  
Andrews ears twitched one. Twice.  
“I’ll see you around?” Neil said, unsure of himself.  
“Don’t push your luck.” was all Andrew said.  
Neil didn’t, and left quickly.


	4. The First Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil gets lost, and Andrew demands answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this chapter, but this one should be a little longer! Credit goes to Nora Sakavic for characters, and to Neyu for art inspiration.

Neil tramped through the forest at the speed of a person that had spent a lot of their recent time running very fast. Which was to say very slow. He minded, only because of how near he knew he was to his father’s men. The fear from last night had settled over Neil’s skin like a ghost. Not that he wasn’t haunted by his father before. Last night had been a reminder of why Neil never stopped moving  
He spent the day walking slowly, trying to remember where he come from the previous evening. Neil hadn’t really payed attention to where he ran into the woods when Andrew had caused a diversion. By late afternoon, it was clear that Neil was still lost. The woods looked completely different to Neil in the daylight, and he didn’t recognize a single thing.  
At first he tried to orient himself using the sun, but it was immediately clear that Neil didn’t remember which direction the village or the road were. Then he tried to climb a tree to see if he could see anything from higher up. Neil picked a tree that looked taller than the others and began his ascent. The bark was rough on Neil’s palm as he climbed the tree, and he wished he had a pair of gloves. He quickly made it to the top, only to be disappointed. The view from the top, while spectacular, did not afford him a better bearing of where he actually was. All the trees looked the same for miles and miles in all directions.  
Neil sat at the top of the tree for a good half an hour, trying to get a grip on where he was. Eventually he gave up, and climbed down the tree in defeat. The good thing about being lost in the woods is that his fathers men, if they had seen him run into the forest, would not have any clue where to look for him. The bad thing about being lost was that Neil had very little to eat, as he had planned on picking up provisions in the town he had just left.   
Neil knew how to survive in the woods, but surviving in the woods would require a lot of personal sacrifice that Neil hadn’t come prepared to make. He decided he needed to stop being stupid for a moment, and think through all of his options. As he did he remembered Andrew’s last sage words of advice before leaving him in the wood the first time.  
“Don’t be so afraid to die.”  
But Neil was afraid to die, whether he like it or not. He had grown up learning to do anything in order to stay alive. He couldn’t suppress those instincts after he had worked so hard to gain them.  
No, dying was not going to be an option. But maybe finding Andrew again would be. Neil would feel truly foolish stumbling back to Andrew after only a day of wandering the woods by himself. This would also mean that Andrew had saved Neil’s life twice in one week, which was already difficult for Neil to admit. But Neil also wanted to live, so he swallowed his pride and got back up.   
Neil would start where he had woken up this morning, and spread out from there. Hopefully the wolf would not scorn Neil and leave him to die. Although Neil wouldn’t put it past Andrew is he did decide to do so, purely out of spite. Truth be told, Neil was actually a little excited to see Andrew again. He knew he shouldn’t expect much from Andrew, especially after how all of their run ins had been so far, but Neil couldn’t help his feelings.  
Neil did finally make it back to the place where he had spent the night, but the little clearing was empty, except for a few freshly fallen leaves. He knew in his head that it didn’t make sense for Andrew to still be here. It was ages since they had been there. Neil decided that his best course of action would be to walk in a spiral for a ways, and see if he could find Andrew wandering around. He wasn’t sure if Andrew was likely to make his way back to where ever he called home, or if he would hang around in the area. Neil still didn’t know why on earth Andrew had followed him in the first place, so he had no idea if Andrew would continue to follow him.  
The problem with Neil’s change in decision was that he made it so late in the day. By the time he had finished his small spiral, it was getting very dark, and Neil was getting very tired. He knew he might lose ground if he slept, but he also knew he would be prone to making mistakes the more tired he got.  
For the second time that week, Neil found a small clearing in trees, and set up for the night. It was only barely getting dark, and though Neil wanted a fire for light and for warmth, he knew a single smokestack would surely attract unwanted attention. He rolled himself up tightly in his bedroll and settled down for the night.  
Neil couldn’t have been laying there for more than 10 minutes when he was roused by a rustling noise in the bushes. He pulled his knife out of its sheath in the same moment that he sat up. He sat for a moment, petrified. Thankfully the soft light from the moon afforded Neil with a view of his surroundings. He looked in all direction, straining his ears for any sign of a sound.  
The bushes directly in front of him rustled, and Neil crouched in preparation to attack. Then Andrew stepped out. The tension flowed out of Neil, and he felt a faint smile creeping from his lips. Andrew also seemed enthusiastic to see him, as the moment their eyes met, his tail began wagging with lazy speed and his tongue was out.  
“Ugh, it’s you again.” Andrew panted. This statement did little to deflate Neil.  
“Well it looks like you’re happy to see me.” Neil teased, indicating Andrew’s wagging tail.  
Andrew seemed to realize what he was doing, and Neil could see his concentration as the wagging stopped, and Andrew’s tail drooped.  
“That happens.” Andrew said flatly. “It’s out of my control.”  
Neil smile to himself, and inched closer to Andrew. The wolf didn’t seem to mind, and so Neil sat cross legged a few feet from Andrew. He seemed to bare no evidence from the strenuous night before, and Neil drew in a small sigh of relief. He would have hated himself if Andrew had gotten hurt because he was cleaning up after Neil’s own poor decision making process.   
“ I was looking for you.” was all Neil said, however.  
“ You don’t say.” said Andrew sarcastically, reclining on the ground. Neil looked down at him. Andrew returned his gaze levelly.  
“Why are you still hanging around this part of the woods?” Neil asked, not expecting an answer.  
“ I was looking for you.” said Andrew.  
“You...were.” Neil choked out.   
“Well when you left I was expecting you to figure out you were lost fairly quickly and come back to ask for help. I didn’t think you would be so stupid as to wait until who-knows-when to figure it out. By the time I had deduced you profound stupidity, it was almost too late, and your scent was getting faint.”  
“Oh.” was all Neil could get out. The idea that someone was genuinely trying to help him was very foreign to him. He wasn’t quite sure how to react, so he didn’t. Andrew didn’t seem like the type of person to expect things in return for favors either way, so Neil felt like he was somewhat in the clear. After a moment of silence, Andrew yawned and rested his head on his paws.  
“There’s no point in you running around here in the dark with your stupid human eyes, so just get some rest, and I’ll get you out of here in the morning.”  
Neil knew that Andrew was done talking for the night, so he nodded mutely and settled back into his bed roll. He lulled himself to sleep thinking that Andrew might be willing to talk more once he was less fed up with Neil’s stupidity.   
When he did wake, Andrews mood seemed as dull and unreadable as ever. Neil wondered how he had ever gotten so interested in a person that never told him anything about himself. Everything Neil ‘knew’ about Andrew was actually just an educated guess. It didn’t really matter though, because Andrew was going to help Neil get out of these woods and then presumably they would never see eachother again. Neil knew that this desire for self preservation would slowly win over his self-fueled obsession with Andrew.  
Their day was not eventful. Neil asked very few questions of Andrew, and Andrew answered even fewer. By the next evening, they had settled into a pattern of silence that suited neither of them. Neil tried to spend his time memorizing the way they had come, but it usually ended with him realizing how terrible his sense of direction was. Eventually he settled into a monotonous track of staring at the ground or the tip of Andrew’s tail, and coming up with plausible answers for questions he couldn’t tell the truth about.  
By the third day, Neil began to wonder how deeply he had wandered into the forest, as their walking seemed to take them even deeper. Neil knew Andrew would take them out farther away from the town that his father men had been at, but this way seemed a little excessive. Neil felt asking Andrew would be to no avail, but he tried anyway.  
“Andrew…” Neil started, unsure of how to phrase his question.  
The wolf kept walking, but Neil saw his ears twitch, so he at least knew Andrew was listening to him. This encouraged Neil, so he continued.  
“Andrew where exactly are we going?”  
At first there was no answer. Neil was just beginning to resign himself to silence again when Andrew spoke up.  
“We’re headed to the Black Woods-”   
“The Black Woods!” interrupted Neil in disbelief. He knew exactly what the black woods were. They embodied the classic haunted forest. Every town Neil had ever been to had a story about some villager getting lost in the Black Woods and never returning. People said that was were wizards lived, and where monsters were born. Neil wasn’t very superstitious, but even he knew that for every ten rumors there were about the Black Woods, there was one story that was bound to be true. So true or not, there were a million reasons why Neil would never go anywhere near the Black Woods.   
“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not as bad as going back, and we won’t be followed in there.” was all that Andrew said in explanation.  
“Going back or going in are both equally terrible ideas!”  
Andrew stopped and turned around to look Neil squarely in the eye. Neil took a step back, startled by Andrew’s sudden intensity. He had seen Andrew like this only once before, on the day they had met.   
“Don’t be so afraid to die Neil.”  
“The whole reason I’m still following you out of here is because I’m afraid to die!”  
“And what is back there that makes you afraid to die?”  
This made Neil come up short. Andrew had surely put two and two together about Neil’s previous life, even without the details. But Neil had forgotten that Andrew wasn’t the only enigma.  
“Okay here’s the deal. Black Woods are important to me, and I want to know if there’s some sheriff waiting to catch you on the other side when we get out.”  
Neil knew he was in a dangerous situation. He needed Andrew to get out of here, but his secrets were his security as well. Neil had no way of knowing what Andrew would do if he knew what kind of life Neil had been living before he went into hiding.   
“I’m still waiting for your answer.” Andrew said after a few moments.  
“Is what you saw not answer enough? I’m not a criminal, and You’re insane if you think I am.”  
”Then correct me.”  
“Give me a reason.”  
“Besides the obvious?” Andrew said. “If I can’t get an answer from you, I’ll get it wherever I can. How about I start with your parents?”  
“Good luck,” Neil said, feeling cold all over. “They’re dead.”  
“Did you kill them?”  
He said it so casually, like he was asking for the time, that Neil could only stare at him a for a minute. It was such an unreasonable leap of logic Neil didn’t understand how he even thought to ask it. Then he remembered who he was talking to and asked, “Did you kill yours?”  
Andrew gave a dismissive flick of his fingers. “I don’t have parents.”  
It was only a half-lie. Andrew had to have born to somebody. He may not have known who his family was, but someone must have cared enough about him to have later given him such a creative curse.  
“I didn’t kill my parents.” Neil said, but he couldn’t go on. Fear was an iron grip around his lungs, making it impossible to breathe. Neil trusted the story he had patched together while he was walking, but he didn’t want to say it out loud. The words came out in jagged pieces and he hoped his struggle added realism to his lies. “That woodsman did.”  
That got Andrew’s attention. Neil swallowed hard, trying to get the tightness from his throat and forced himself to explain.  
“My father was a peddler of the group run by the woodsman. In the grand scheme of things, he wasn’t worth much, but he knew a lot of buyers, and he knew how to move product.  
“Then my father started to getting cocky, started getting stupid, and tried skimming from payments. He took money that was meant for his boss. They found out of course. He was executed, along with my mother. I took what he had stolen and ran. I’ve been running ever since.”  
Neil was smiling now. He felt it as it curved across his lips and he knew it was a sick ghastly expression. He dug his fingernails into his mouth, trying to claw the look of his face, but it was frozen in place.  
Andrew said nothing for so long neil thought he’d blown it, but finally Andrew moved. Neil shifted his weight, ready to move himself out of the way if things got violent, but Andrew only came to stand right in front of Neil.  
“And so you came with me?” Andrew asked.  
“I’m tired.” Nei said, trying to sound defeated. It didn’t take much effort. “I have no where else to go, and I’m to invested in your curse to stay away. Your life is so much more real and interesting than mine. I’m-” Neil didn’t want to say it, but the word was already there, broken and pathetic between them, “-nothing. I’ll always have and be nothing.”  
Andrew reached up and forcibly uncurled Neil’s fingers from his mouth. He pushed Neil’s hand out of the way and stared Neil down with nothing between them, Neil didn’t understand the look on his face. There was no censure over Neil’s crooked parents or pity for their deaths, no triumph over having backed Neil into admitting so much, and no obvious skepticism for such an outlandish story. Whatever this look was, it was dark and intense enough to swallow Neil whole.  
“Let me stay with you,” Neil said quietly. “I’m not ready to give this up yet.”  
The strange look left Andrew’s eyes. His expression cleared to stony indifference and he backed out of Neil’s space. “I’ll let you stay.”  
Neil’s stomach gave a nauseating flip. He’d been lying since he first learned to speak. What he’d just told Andrew was fifty percent of the truth, the most honest thing he’d ever tell someone in his life, and Andrew took it without batting an eye. Neil didn’t know how to feel about that. He should be relieved, because it meant Andrew might not ask him any other questions. He wondered for a moment if Andrew could handle the entire truth so calmly, but that was too dangerous and stupid to consider.  
“Since you’ve given me some truth, I’ll reward you.” Andrew said, startling Neil.  
Then he did something that Neil could never have expected in a million years, and at the same time, Neil couldn’t have imagined it happening any other way. What happened was that Andrew began to change. In one moment, Neil was sitting in front of a wolf, and the next, he was sitting in front a human. If human could be considered a precise word in this situation. Andrew had two furry ears poking out of his tousled blonde hair, and a tail protruded from the tattered fur-lined half cloak that Andrew wore. He slowly lowered himself from the ground, and returned his gaze to Neil.   
“Now we’re even, runaway.”


	5. Trust, Ravens and Caves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil's reaction to Andrew being human. And then they trust each other. Also Ravens guys. Get it? Its Riko, but it's not Riko. Anyways, be warned that people get owies in this chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, this was a hard chapter to get right. Anyways characters belong to Nora, original AU idea and inspirational art belongs to Neyu!

Neil knew that if there was a instance where Andrew didn’t mind staring, it had to be this. The transformation from full wolf to half human had been as striking as it was shocking. Neil’s mind tumbled around itself as he tried to find an explanation for what he was seeing. Had Andrew had the power to turn into a human this entire time? If he had, why was he running around as a wolf instead of a human?  
Neil had so many questions, and he knew, despite all the truth that he had given to Andrew, that there were limited answers. All his cold feelings toward Andrew were being washed away by Neil’s curiosity. There was no way Neil could pull himself away after something like this. Neil chose his next words carefully.  
“How can you do this?”   
Andrew considered that question, his expression only slightly easier to read as a human, before replying. “It takes a witch to give curse, it also takes a witch to take a curse away. Or part of the way anyways.”  
“So you-”  
“Have you decided if you’re going to trust me?” Andrew interrupted, “Because we really don’t have time to sit here any longer.”  
“And we’re still going through the black woods?”   
Andrew gave no answer, and Neil knew that his plans hadn’t changed. He also knew that just like him, Andrew would be in a poor mood after sharing such a vulnerable thing about himself. He had chosen to stay in wolf form for the duration of their travels together, so he had to have a legitimate reason for not revealing his human self to Neil until now. So whether Neil liked it or not, he decided that he would follow through with Andrew’s chosen path, regardless of the danger.  
“Alright,” Neil said, rising “let’s go through the Black Wood”  
This answer seemed to be enough for Andrew, as he too rose, and turned back to their path. It was strange for Neil to see him walking as a human now, instead of a wolf. The view from behind Andrew was completely different from what it once was. Neil hardly noticed however, as his mind struggled with what he had told Andrew, and the new loop of Andrew’s curse. Within this last half hour, their dynamic dramatically, and it was almost too new. His held up his shaky fingers where he could see them better, and wondered at the equally weak flutter in his chest.  
Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing, but he thought perhaps he liked it.  
As they walked, Neil ran from his feelings by thinking about his new favorite topic. From Andrew’s vague statement, Neil was able to pick out more details. Andrew must know a witch, possibly the same witch that had cursed him, and she must have tried to reverse the curse through old fashion spell work. It had half worked. Andrew’s human appearance still held some wolfish features, including his ears and his tail. Judging by the way Andrew was still pausing to sniff the air in front of Neil, he had retained some of his wolf senses as well.  
There was also the question of how long Andrew could hold this human form. He spent most of his time as a wolf, and Neil wondered if Andrew did so out of comfort or habit, or some other reason. In front of him Andrew seemed to be walking around just fine, so it was clear that being human wasn’t painful for him. Maybe he only could only be human during the day time. No that couldn’t be it. Neil had seen Andrew’s human form the night of the escape. Now that he knew Andrew change into a human, what he had seen that night no longer seemed like a dream.  
Neil attempted to ask Andrew more questions, but Andrew only stared ahead and ignored Neil. Eventually Neil gave up, but the questions he had still plagued him. Neil knew that unless he gave Andrew more truths, he doubted he would get anymore of his questions answered. For now, Neil was done with truth though, so he stayed quiet.  
They spent the rest of the day walking in silence, though it did feel noticeably more comfortable than the previous silence. Occasionally Andrew would stop and sniff the air, and adjust their course, but other than that they continued in monotony.  
When they settled down for the night, Andrew melted back into his wolf form. Neil was feeling particularly jealous of Andrew’s form, because the ground was hard and cold, and Neil’s bed roll was hardly what he would call comfortable. In wolf form Andrew was easily more comfortable than Neil was, being in a body that was meant to survive the harshest of winters.  
Neil voiced his thoughts to Andrew, but got no response. Andrew simply pretended to be asleep. Neil smiled, and rolled himself into his blanket. This new dynamic with Andrew was definitely less worse than before.  
Neil woke up at dawn to snow. Large soft flakes drifted leisurely down from the sky. Neil frowned, both from being woken up so early and because of what it meant for his travel prospects. Andrew peered blearily up at the flakes, as though they were personally offensive to him. The mood was fussy damp.  
“Go back to sleep Neil, we’re going to do a lot walking today, you’ll be faster if you’re well rested.”  
Neil laid his head back down and covered his head with his blanket. The next few hours of sleep were fitful and cold and damp. When he finally gave up on sleep, and sat up in frustration, Andrew was waiting for him. Neil got up and packed as quickly as possible, desperate to get moving and get his blood flowing. The snow was falling slower than before, but now a good inch dusted the ground around them.  
Thankfully by mid afternoon the snow had all melted, but the air was still achingly cold. At this point Neil had pulled on his worn red cloak, though it didn’t do him much good. The ends were so tattered the looked almost like lace, and the hood was getting patchy around the edges. It made a pretty image in the afternoon sun, but Neil could do without the aesthetic.  
It was around this time that Neil and Andrew came to the edge of the Black Forest. It wasn’t particularly noticeable that they were near the edge, only that some of the trees now bore the trademark black trunk. Neil had seen the edges of this forest before, but never from this side. He didn’t know if he really had it in him to continue on, but Andrew quickly squashed his fear by pushing straight into it like he might the door of his own home. It occurred to Neil that that might not be all that incorrect, given what he knew about Andrew’s personal life.  
The first few minutes after that were quite. The next few minutes after that were less so. It started with a few ravens, their beady little eyes watching Neil as they cleaned themselves with their razor sharp beaks. They were quickly joined by more ravens, all following Neil with intense stares. At this point Andrew had begun to notice them as well, and was clearly not thrilled to see them. Neil hoped that they didn’t somehow have history with Andrew, which seemed absurd, but then again, ravens didn’t congregate like this.  
“Friends or yours?” Neil whispered, trying to be discrete.  
“I don’t have friends.” Andrew said, and Neil wasn’t sure what that was supposed to infer.   
He and Andrew kept walking, slowly and cautiously, but more birds joined them every minute. This was a different kind of fear than what Nathaniel inspired. This was a fear that built with every single bird that landed. Neil felt like he was going to explode, but the panic just kept building. Every step he took was almost unbearable.  
Finally, when Neil felt he could not take another step, Andrew said one word that Neil didn’t know how badly he wanted to hear until that moment.  
“Run.”  
Without another thought, Neil sprinted forward. He let everything disappear, except one thought, and that was of getting away. His mind began to grow fuzzy, but sudden sharp pain brought him back. The ravens were attacking them, diving down and nipping at their skin. Neil’s clothes protected him, but only a little bit. The ravens seemed to picking away at certain spots on him that had already been hit. How they were able to be so precise at aiming on a moving body, Neil didn’t know, but it was making it harder for him to run with his hands over his head and his skin bleeding in a million places.  
Neil chanced a look at his side and saw Andrew as struggling just as hard, if not more. His hide was thick, but it was still penetrable, and he had no way to protect his eyes. Neil didn’t know if they were going to be able to make it very far if this continued. He looked ahead, trying to find some way to find cover, but there was nothing but trees.   
“Left!” Andrew yelled, curving away from Neil.  
Neil hoped Andrew had a reason for diverting them, but at that moment he was too busy trying to keep his face intact to think about tactical advantage. He ran as fast as he possibly could without seeing anything in front of him. That ended up being a huge mistake.  
The ground suddenly disappeared out from under Neil’s feet so quickly he almost didn’t realize it. One second he was running and the next he was flailing in mid-air. Everything seemed to slow down for a moment as Neil comprehended the fact that he was falling. Then he hit the ground. The air rushed out of him with finality, and Neil lay on the ground gasping in pain as the ravens settled on him.  
Neil couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t even move. He could only hear his own gasping, and the caw of the ravens as the pecked him apart, gradual and agonizing. The flutter of wings and feathers brushing against Neil’s bare skin made him feel sick. He had only the barest train of thought to move his hands to protect his face, and that was all he could manage. The fall had knocked out all the sense in Neil, and the pain was causing him to shut down. He llay there like a helpless child, wishing for it to be over.  
“Get up!” said a voice, barely a growl.  
Neil didn’t quite understand what was being asked of him, but someone was pulling on Neil’s arms, trying the get him to move. Neil didn’t really want to take his hands of his face at them moment. He tried to curl up more, but the ravens got in his way. So annoying. The hand pulled again, but that time it was quickly replaced by a furious bird.  
“Get away you stupid bastard!” he heard the voice cry, followed by a startled squawk. Then hands pulled Neils shoulders and dragged him into a half collapsed standing position. Nei didn’t like this either, and he tried to sink back down to the ground to cover himself.  
“Come on you idiot! Run!”  
Neil knew that voice. It was Andrew. Suddenly Neil flashed back into reality with a jolt. They needed to run to get away from all these birds. Neil grabbed Andrew’s now human hand and tore away from the birds with all the energy he had left. The bird’s were startled enough by the sudden movement of their prey that lost track of Neil and Andrew. This gave Andrew just enough time to see where he was and take Neil to his original destination.  
The cave wasn’t very tall, or wide, but there was a wooden slat that could be used as a door, and that was all Andrew needed to shut the ravens out. The cawing didn’t stop, but it did slow a great deal, which eased Neil’s conscience. The ravens ran against the door with sickening crashes, making the dirt around the slat crumble a bit, but it remained shut.   
For a minute, he and Andrew crouched there, panting in the dark. Neil still felt stunned from his fall into the ravine, and though he had managed to really for a brief moment at the end, he was slowly sinking back into himself. Andrew shook him again, trying to get his attention.  
“Neil, listen to me.”  
“What?” said Neil blearily.   
“You’re going into shock, you need to focus.”  
Shock. Neil knew what that was. His mother had told him about that. He looked up at Andrew again, blinking sleepily. Wasn’t Neil supposed to do something if he went into shock? He couldn’t remember anymore. He struggled to take in his surroundings, in order to show Andrew that he was in fact, functioning properly.  
“Where’s the light.” Neil slurred, finally deciding that was what would be the most helpful to Andrew at the moment. It was to dark to see the expression Andrew was giving him, but Neil could almost guess that it was some kind of dead-pan, slack faced growl. This little bit of predictability helped bring Neil closer to reality.  
“No seriously, I need light to see where they got us.”  
Neil shifted to his knees and attempted a shuffle toward the slat frame door. He didn’t quite know what he expected to find over there, and moving was extremely painful at first. Neil turned to Andrew, and in the dark he swore he could see Andrew’s frown as he made a tch noise.  
“Luckily for you, this place comes equipped for emergencies.”   
Andrew fumbled through the dark for a moment before finding what ever he was looking for. He made a grunt of satisfaction when his hands ran over the item before tossing in back to Neil. A rope. But it wasn’t slack. It seemed to be tied to something further into the cave. Neil could feel Andrew’s hands as he grabbed it and he began to crawl along the rope. Neil obediently followed behind, hoping Andrew wasn’t going to get them killed by bats or some other cave monster.  
They crawled along the rope, slowly, trying not to irritate their throbbing abrasions. Neil was quickly losing mobility in his legs from where he had been struck, and he wasn’t sure how much more time he had. Thankfully, the crawling did not last long. The small tunnel quickly opened up to a much larger, more spacious cavern. Neil felt his jaw drop a bit, as he stared in awe. The cavern it self was not nearly as impressive as the trickling streams that pooled in the center of the gave, aglow with some kind of mineral. The entire space was alight with a cool blue light, giving the cavern an almost ambient feeling.  
To add to the surprise, Neil found that Andrew was right. This cave came equipped for emergencies. There were crates filled with all sorts of useful things, including an abundance of random medical supplies. Neil fished around in the crate, and pulled out what he thought he needed, and Andrew did the same. Neither Neil nor Andrew knew much about what they needed to do, but without many other options, a home remedy was the most advisable.  
As Neil took stock of his body, he could tell he had sustained the worst damage on his upper leg, just below the groin. The birds had managed to pick a sizable spot open, and it now oozed blood, and dirt. Neil hesitated to touch it with his dirty hands, but he needed to stop the bleeding soon. He inched himself as close as he could to edge of the pool, and stuck his hand in. The water was cold, but it looked clean. Andrew made no move to stop Neil, but joined him at the water’s edge. Neil took it as a sign to use the water.  
Cleaning the wound was painful, and it soon became clear that Neil had lost more blood than he thought. The flesh was jagged and burning, as if infection had already set in. Still unsure of what to do, Neil covered the wound with gauze before wrapping it tightly, and hoping that was enough. The rest of the marks paled in comparison to Neil’s leg, and he hoped that whatever he had done was enough.  
Finished with his self help, Neil lay where he was on the rock and stared at the ceiling. He was tired. His eyes were just beginning to close when something landed on his stomach. Neil looked down his chest in surprise, and then over in the direction of the throw. Andrew sat propped up against the boxes, looking bored, as usual.  
“Eat before you drift off and die idiot.”  
A surprised grunt was all Neil managed before he tore into the food that Andrew had thrown at him. While traveling with Andrew, Neil’s supplies had quickly run out, forcing Neil to rely on Andrew’s animal hunting skills as his main source of food. Raw squirrel and nuts and berries were not Neil’s idea of a good meal, but neither was starving. Eating while lying down made quite a mess, but it gave out enough energy for Neil to pull out his bedroll and fall on it. He was so tired he didn’t care if he bled out now, as long as he could sleep before he died. He gave one last tired peek to Andrew, but the man seemed to have drifted off, and was now sleeping with his back to the boxes. As long as Andrew was fine, Neil gave himself permission to sleep.


End file.
